Rewind

Even though the True/False Film Fest is as annual event, now in its 14th year, the documentary film showcase is anything but repetitive.

“Every year, we have an entirely new crop of films, and there’s a complete turnover in the filmmaker guests,” says fest co-founder David Wilson. The sense of novelty extends to the fest’s musical and art components as well.

“We have live music throughout the fest, and those bands are almost all new,” Wilson says, “although we away try to bring back a few favorites each year.”

Also new this year is the fest’s new box office at the Sager | Braudis gallery, which Wilson is very excited about.

“It helps expand the festival footprint a little bit. It’s a really beautiful gallery space. We’ll be collaborating with them on art that’ll be at the gallery, as well as elsewhere at the festival. We continue to put more resources into our visual arts presence, in addition to film and music, we’re really trying to build up the amount of visual art. Site-specific installations, but also pieces that ask you to move from site to site. We’re looking at more interactive art pieces.”

In addition to interactive art, the fest aims to offer more interactive film experiences as well.

“We also continue to grow our transmedia program,” Wilson says. “Which is kind of the umbrella we use for Virtual Reality (VR) and interactive computer documentaries, or performance or audio or walking tours — anything that doesn’t involve you sitting in a theatre and looking at a screen. The VR world is moving very quickly and people are really learning how to make great work in that space. It’s an exciting new frontier.”

One that attendees will be able to access via a classic ’80s-style arcade housed at the Columbia Art League.

In terms of more traditional movie screenings, they’ll take place at the same venues as last year, including Jesse Hall, The Missouri Theatre and The Blue Note. Approximately 38 films will be shown, along with four to six shorts programs.

As always, you can expect a diverse array of film offerings, both dramas and comedies. Many hold up a mirror to modern life, in spite of the fact that the fest does not program by topic.

Although not intentional, a fair number of this year’s films focus on the African American experience in the U.S. Among them: “I Am Not Your Negro,” by Raoul Peck, “Strong Island,” by Yance Ford, “Quest,” this year’s True Life Fund recipient by Jon Olshefski, and “The Force,” by Peter Nicks, a film about the Oakland police department.

Wilson says that one subject being talked about a lot these days is real news versus fake news, and that watching, appreciating and discussing documentaries is an exercise in media literacy.

“To me there’s no better prescription than documentary films as a way to train yourself for how you encounter media and process it,” he says.

True/False runs March 2-5. Passes typically sell out well before the fest begins, but individual tickets are often still available. Wilson recommends showing up at the larger venues such as Jesse Auditorium and the Missouri Theatre an hour before the movie begins to purchase a ticket.

FEAST

MARCH 13
The Mid-Missouri Restaurant Association hosts its 31st annual Taste of Mid-Missouri at the University of Missouri Reynolds Alumni Center.

The event showcases offerings from a wide range of local restaurants and benefits scholarships for the students in the University of Missouri’s hospitality management program. Come out and sample all the delicious dishes and do good at the same time. It’s a fun, enjoyable evening and a wonderful way to take a one-stop dining tour of Columbia!

LISTEN

MARCH 21

The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields is one of the world’s premier chamber orchestras, renowned for its fresh, brilliant interpretations of the world’s most-loved classical music. Formed by Sir Neville Marriner in 1958 from a group of leading London musicians, the Academy gave its first performance in its namesake church in November 1959. Through its live performances and vast recording output – highlights of which include the soundtrack to 1985’s Oscar-winning film “Amadeus” – the orchestra quickly gained an enviable international reputation for its distinctive, polished and refined sound. A University Concert Series presentation at the Missouri Theatre.